The 10 Best Tech Companies To Work For That Are NOT In Silicon Valley

Flickr/Lars PlougmannIt's probably fair to call Silicon Valley the center of the tech universe. The Valley is home to more tech companies than any other region, including some of the best companies on the planet to work for (Google, Facebook, Twitter).

But it's also an insanely expensive place to live.

Turns out, you don't have to live there to have a fabulous job at a great tech company. There are awesome companies all over the country.

We asked employee crowdsourcing site Glassdoor.com to tell us which one of these are the best according to their employees.

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No. 10, Rackspace: Be treated like family

About the company: Web hosting and cloud computing infrastructure. Rackspace is going through some challenging times right now, as it faces increased competition from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, HP, and others.

The company's well-liked CEO Lanham Napier surprised the tech world by suddenly resigning in February, when the company announced softer-than-expected growth in its cloud business. Founder and chairman Graham Weston stepped back in as temporary CEO.

An employee says:

"Rackspace is a fantastic company to work for. Everyone is treated like family and loves their job. There are constant development challenges in a growing market and coming to work is a joy." — Rackspace Software Developer II (San Antonio, Texas)

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No. 9, Microsoft: Great for talented, ambitious people

Microsoft

Company: Microsoft:

Employee rating: 3.7 out of 5 stars

Location: Redmond, Washington (Seattle area)

About the company: Microsoft just appointed its third-ever CEO, long-time Microsoftie Satya Nadella. The company is already flourishing under his new leadership as he moves Microsoft into the brave new era of cloud computing and making its own devices with its acquisition of Nokia.

An employee says:

"Really talented, ambitious and driven co-workers - you get to work with the best! Great compensation. Really good work-life balance compared to other tech companies of the same caliber." — Microsoft Program Manager (Redmond, Washington)

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No. 8, Texas Instruments: Great coworkers

Texas Instruments employees
Texas Instruments, Inc.

Company: Texas Instruments

Employee rating: 3.7 out of 5 stars

Location: Dallas

About the company: TI is a a $12 billion semi-conductor company that consistently lands on the "best places to work" lists. In 2011, it bought its oldest, biggest rival, National Semiconductor.

Today its chips are embedded in countless electronics devices. It is even powering a Kickstarter project that launched a bunch of tiny spacecrafts into orbit with the last the SpaceX mission, the first so-called "personal spacecrafts."

An employee says:

"Great people, great environment, global exposure. You enjoy every day of work because of the people you work with. The work culture is great too." — Texas Instruments Project Manager (Plano, Texas)

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No. 7, CareerBuilder: Management really cares

About the company: About 24 million people use the CareerBuilder website each month to find new jobs and glean career advice. It was originally launched as a dotcom-era website and went public one-year before the Internet bubble burst.

It barely hung on through the post bubble years, bought by newspaper companies Gannett Co. and the Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (which owns Knight Ridder).

Today, it represents the online heir to the newspaper's help wanted section and is known for its TV commercials featuring monkeys.

An employee says:

"Fantastic place to work! Management truly cares about their employees and encourages growth. Great pay and benefits." — CareerBuilder Project Manager (Chicago)

"The people that work here are top notch, high-quality people. There are definitely opportunities here for those starting their career to grow and gain valuable experiences." — National Instruments Senior Group Manager (Austin, Texas)

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No. 5, Citrix Systems: Good pay, smart coworkers

About the company: Citrix offers a form of networking software to companies that allows them to run Windows (and other apps) over the cloud, instead of installing it on PCs. It offers other tech management software, too, for doing things like security and managing mobile devices. It is VMware's biggest competitor.

No. 4, MathWorks: Cool product, great training

About the company: MathWorks makes math software for computer engineering. Its tools help developers create algorithms or analyze data. MathWorks is famous for a contest it runs each year for the best uses of its software. Last year, an Australian doctorate student won for creating a drone.

An employee says:

"The company culture promotes collaboration and a positive environment. The company also invests in employees by providing excellent technical training." — M a thWorks Senior Software Engineer (Natick, Massachusetts)

No. 3, CDW: Wonderful work/life balance

About the company: CDW is a $10 billion company that sells just about every kind of piece of computer equipment and software under the sun. Its founder story is a bit similar to Dell's.

In 1982, a 28-year-old, out-of-work college graduate named Michael Krasny needed cash and placed a $3 classified ad in the newspaper to sell his IBM computer. Offers poured in, he made $200 profit, and Krasny became a computer broker, buying and selling computers for a small profit. The company was born.

An employee says:

CDW: "The company really promotes and encourages work/life balance. They truly act as if they value all coworkers and want to ensure that employees personal as well as career needs are being met." — CDW Technical Lead (Vernon Hills, Illinois)

No. 2, Qualcomm: Skyrocketing success

About the company: Qualcomm is a semiconductor manufacturer most famous for its Snapdragon chips that power many of today's smartphones and tablets.

The mobile revolution, and Qualcomm's starring role in it, has fueled the 29-year-old company to massive growth in recent years. It reported $25 billion in 2013 revenues, up 30% from 2012. Cofounder Irwin Jacobs is a billionaire involved in politics. He just hosted President Obama at his home for a $10,000-a-plate lunch fundraiser.

An employee says:

"The company has the technology, leadership team, and track record to succeed in a fast growing wireless technology world. The business model is very competitive and sticky. The company moves fast to stay at the forefront of wireless technology." — Qualcomm Senior Engineer (San Diego)

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No. 1, Orbitz: A sense of camaraderie

About the company: Orbitz is a travel-booking website that also owns other sites like CheapTickets and European-focused ebookers. Orbitz began life in the dotcom era as a collaboration by the airline industry. They wanted a piece of the online travel action from rising sites Expedia and Travelocity.

The company hasn't been a stock market favorite. The stock has been trading well below $10 since 2008, though it has started to rebound a bit in 2014. For that reason its top executive receives modest pay by the tech industry's standards: $5.3 million in total compensation in 2013, up from $3.9 million the year before.

An employee says:

"Orbitz has assembled some of the smartest people, who are also very nice and team-oriented, to create a dynamic and exciting place to work in a fun and exciting industry. The sense of camaraderie is terrific as we all pull together to bring Orbitz to the next level." — Orbitz Senior Manager (Chicago)